US reporter goes missing near Chechnya

ABC (Australia) ^ | Feb. 11, 2004

[Prodigal Son]

A US reporter based in Moscow, who was last seen near the war-torn republic of Chechnya, has been missing for three days, the US embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We can confirm that a US citizen reporter who lives in Russia has been reported missing since Sunday, February 8, in the area near Mozdok, North Ossetia [which borders Chechnya]," the embassy said, without identifying the journalist.

Moscow police told AFP that Rebecca Santana of Cox Newspapers has been missing from Moscow since Sunday and they had launched a missing person's investigation.

[Prodigal Son]

More from Pravda (FWIW):

http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/383/12030_Santana.html

On February 10 the Consulate of the US Embassy in Moscow informed the Russian police about disappearance of Cox News reporter 32-year old Rebecca Santana.
The last report by Rebecca Santana about the blast in Moscow Metro was published on February 7 (link to the report).

The US Embassy in Russia confirmed the information that the US reporter disappeared in the area of city Mozdok (Northern Osetia) which is near the border with Chechnya.

The US Embassy press-service reported that "the US government submitted its formal inquiry of the disappearance of the reporter to the Russian Office of Public Prosecutor and expressed its concerns about the reporter to urge Russian government to engage law-enforcers in the case".

Mozdok city government does not have data of the US reporter
Meanwhile, Mozdok city government official said in a ITAR-TASS interview that the local authorities have no information of the US reporter and her disappearance.

"We have no information of this sort. If this happened, law-enforcers would immediately report the city government about this", said Head of Mozdok Distric Government Vyacheslav Parinov.

According to Mozdok District Police Department, official records do not have information of US reporter arrival to Mozdok, no US citizen is registered in the city. Meanwhile, after the last summer acts of terrorism all foreigners entering the city are required to pass the registration procedure.

[Highest Authority]

"Goes missing" .... now there's an overused phrase that drives me nuts! "Goes", implies that he, himself, did it on purpose.

[mware]

Prayers for her. If the terrorist got her, it is not going to be pretty.

[SCR1]

I wonder if they have plans for her? Do 'they' (terrorists) need her to report a story? Sounds like the warning a while back about kidnapping reporters.

[MarMema]

chechen hostage ping.

[swarthyguy]

Poor, poor lady.

[Prodigal Son]

I shudder to think what I would do if my wife were in her shoes.

[Howlin]

#25 - JRL 8026
From: "Rebecca Santana" <rsantana@rol.ru>
Subject: Cox Newspapers Job Announcement
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT:

Cox Newspapers, one of the largest newspaper chains in the United States, is looking for a correspondent to cover the former Soviet Union. Cox Newspapers has 17 daily newspapers in the United States including the flagship paper ­ the Atlanta Journal Constitution. The correspondent would cover breaking news when necessary but mainly would be responsible for developing feature story ideas dealing with Russian politics, economics and cultural life. It is a freelance position and includes a travel budget for stories within the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Interested applicants should send a resume, cover letter and copies of five stories to rsantana@coxnews.com. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Santana at 959-0346 or 8916-374-7443. Deadline is February 13th.